Rutabaga Education is the passion project of Kaitlin Mitchell, a former elementary school educator with a master's degree in Cross-Cultural Education who San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles magazine describes as "an edible gardening evangelist."

This fall marks Kaitlin's seventh year serving as a School Garden Coordinator. She organizes the lessons and supplies that get almost 500 kids growing and learning outdoors every week (30 weeks during the year) in the school garden.

According to Wikipedia, rutabaga is "a root vegetable that originated as a cross between the cabbage and the turnip." The rutabagas I've seen are stocky, textured, and two-toned. The bottom half is creamy white, and the tops are varying shades of purple and maroon.

You can consume both the root and leaves of a rutabaga plant, but I am more familiar with dishes that incorporate the bottom portion of the plant. Once you get past the root's rough exterior, the buttery yellow inside is slightly sweet and earthy.